1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surgical instrument comprising a connecting device which permits, according to defined and independent positions, the rapid assembly and/or dismantling of the mobile cutting element and its actuating grip.
The connecting device is intended for surgical instruments comprising cutting elements which slide relative to one another.
The connecting device is more particularly applicable to surgical instruments comprising a fixed cutting element and a mobile cutting element which are actuated by the agency of an elastically loaded mobile grip.
2. Description of the Related Art
The applicant has filed patent applications FR 98/05 689 and FR 98/05 690 in France relating to a surgical instrument and a connecting device.
The surgical instrument possesses a main body on which a mobile clamping jaw slides by the agency of an elastically loaded grip.
The main body is formed by a fixed grip which is extended by an elongate support forming a fixed clamping jaw. The mobile clamping jaw, which is actuated by means of the elastically loaded grip, slides on the fixed clamping jaw in a longitudinal direction.
The fixed and mobile clamping jaws respectively possess, opposite the fixed and mobile grips, cutting means which interact with each other during the longitudinal displacements of the said mobile clamping jaw to make successive cuts in the hard bone tissue or soft tissue of a patient.
The connecting device in patent applications FR 98/05 689 and FR 98/05 690 merely permit the rapid assembly and dismantling of the mobile element without parts of the,instrument having to be withdrawn. The connecting device comprises means for the angular indexing of the,mobile grip about its axis of rotation to permit, in a given position, the positioning or withdrawal of the mobile element of the main body of the instrument.
The purpose of the connecting device according to the present invention is to improve that described in patent applications FR 98/05 689 and FR 98/05 690 in the name of the applicant so as to enable, in predefined and independent positions, both the assembly or dismantling of the mobile element and the assembly or dismantling of the mobile grip.
The connecting device for a surgical instrument according to the present invention comprises indexing means defining a first series of angular positions permitting the positioning or withdrawal of the mobile element and a second series of angular positions, independent of the first, for the assembly or dismantling of the mobile grip.
The connecting device according to the present invention possesses angular indexing means which are formed by:
an elastically loaded pivot for the pivoting of the mobile grip relative to the fixed grip of the main body of the instrument,
and guide means solidly fixed to the said mobile grip and interacting with the said pivot and a drive spindle provided on the mobile element for its longitudinal movements relative to the main body.